2018 Was Another Great Year for Israeli Tech

2018 was another great year for Israeli tech.

According to a recent report by Tel Aviv-based research firm IVC, last year was the sixth consecutive year of growth for the Israeli tech ecosystem, with venture capital investments totaling $6.47 billion— 17.3% more than in 2017. In fact, 2018 saw double the year-over-year growth of 2017, which saw 8.3% more investments than 2016.

The increase in the total money invested is particularly interesting when considering that the number of investment rounds has declined for the third consecutive year, with a total of 623 investment rounds in 2018, 5.7% down from 2017. This is good news, demonstrating that VCs are investing larger sums in high-quality startups, allowing these startups to develop more advanced products and deliver them to market earlier. This is evident by the fact that in 2018, the number of A and B investment rounds surpassed seed rounds.

Particularly interesting are the countries from which these investments are flowing in. U.S.-based VCs and investors accounted for 35% of investments in Israeli tech in 2018, outpacing Israeli investors. Chinese investments, on the other hand, diminished in 2018 compared to other countries.